Solomon's Temple

Solomon's Temple, also known as the First Temple , was a biblical <a href="/facts/Temple_in_Jerusalem/WHsJ2e2Y">Temple in Jerusalem</a> believed to have existed between the 10th and 6th centuries <a href="/facts/Common_Era/e5DpqUoe">BCE</a>. Its description is largely based on narratives in the <a href="/facts/Hebrew_Bible/04qRIX0c">Hebrew Bible</a>, in which it was commissioned by biblical king <a href="/facts/Solomon/UEW5JoNU">Solomon</a> before being destroyed during the <a href="/facts/Siege_of_Jerusalem_(587_BC)/00tA1FHl">Siege of Jerusalem</a> by <a href="/facts/Nebuchadnezzar_II/YW4JMqq3">Nebuchadnezzar II</a> of the <a href="/facts/Neo-Babylonian_Empire/GfIPHmzs">Neo-Babylonian Empire</a> in 587 BCE. No excavations are allowed on the Temple Mount, and no positively identified remains of the destroyed temple have been found. Most modern scholars agree that the First Temple existed on the <a href="/facts/Temple_Mount/tjo2RjG6">Temple Mount</a> in <a href="/facts/Jerusalem/PKJ8LT0Y">Jerusalem</a> by the time of the Babylonian siege, and there is significant debate among scholars over the date of its construction and the identity of its builder.
The Hebrew Bible, specifically within the <a href="/facts/Books_of_Kings/FU2l2xVY">Book of Kings</a>, includes a detailed narrative about the construction's ordering by Solomon, the penultimate ruler of the <a href="/facts/Kingdom_of_Israel_(united_monarchy)/VLPUcfkt">United Kingdom of Israel</a>. It further credits Solomon as the placer of the <a href="/facts/Ark_of_the_Covenant/SUzFGIM0">Ark of the Covenant</a> in the <a href="/facts/Holy_of_Holies/vMXQWXJf">Holy of Holies</a>, a windowless inner sanctum within the structure. Entry into the Holy of Holies was heavily restricted; the <a href="/facts/High_Priest_of_Israel/vIUJTrI2">High Priest of Israel</a> was the only authority permitted to enter the sanctuary, and only did so on <a href="/facts/Yom_Kippur/2STbQGjN">Yom Kippur</a>, carrying the <a href="/facts/Korban/mXHksntQ">blood of a sacrificial lamb</a> and <a href="/facts/Incense_offering/j9cfPV3m">burning incense</a>. In addition to serving as a religious building for worship, the First Temple also functioned as a place of assembly for the <a href="/facts/Israelites/wohGkSzL">Israelites</a>. The First Temple's destruction and the subsequent <a href="/facts/Babylonian_captivity/skWuJsdJ">Babylonian captivity</a> were both events that were seen as a fulfillment of biblical prophecies and thus affected <a href="/facts/Judaism/tjQ5Tgs6">Judaic religious beliefs</a>, precipitating the Israelites' transition from either <a href="/facts/Polytheism/zxpjmWbq">polytheism</a> or <a href="/facts/Monolatry/VfbADIhM">monolatrism</a> (as seen in <a href="/facts/Yahwism/FoaPuwTe">Yahwism</a>) to firm <a href="/facts/God_in_Judaism/ED9TEs27">Jewish monotheism</a>.[original research?]
Previously, many scholars accepted the biblical narrative of the First Temple's construction by Solomon as authentic. During the 1980s, <a href="/facts/Biblical_minimalism/Xhz2TD94">skeptical approaches to the biblical text</a> as well as the archaeological record led some scholars to doubt whether there was any Temple in Jerusalem constructed as early as the 10th century BCE. Some scholars have suggested that the original structure built by Solomon was relatively modest, and was later rebuilt on a larger scale. No direct evidence for the existence of Solomon's Temple has been found. Due to the extreme religious and political sensitivity of the site, no recent archaeological excavations have been conducted on the Temple Mount. Nineteenth and early-twentieth century excavations around the Temple Mount did not identify "even a trace" of the complex. The <a href="/facts/House_of_Yahweh_ostracon/30DC76DM">House of Yahweh ostracon</a>, dated to the 6th century BCE, may refer to the First Temple. Two 21st century findings from the Israelite period in present-day <a href="/facts/Israel/dEe3IcaY">Israel</a> bear resemblance to Solomon's Temple as it is described in the Hebrew Bible: a shrine model from the early half of the 10th century BCE in <a href="/facts/Khirbet_Qeiyafa/RzTbk2CL">Khirbet Qeiyafa</a>; and the <a href="/facts/Tel_Motza/Ipo9CXzF">Tel Motza temple</a>, dated to the 9th century BCE and located in the neighbourhood of <a href="/facts/Motza/0fNSEApH">Motza</a> within <a href="/facts/West_Jerusalem/RuQny0yf">West Jerusalem</a>. The biblical description of Solomon's Temple also appears to share similarities with several <a href="/facts/Syro-Hittite/9tJP2gKq">Syro-Hittite</a> temples of the same period discovered in modern-day <a href="/facts/Syria/7pDXGzq8">Syria</a> and <a href="/facts/Turkey/KIYAWAs0">Turkey</a>, such as those in <a href="/facts/Ain_Dara_(archaeological_site)/HNJ2Soa8">Ain Dara</a> and <a href="/facts/Tell_Tayinat/jG7g962P">Tell Tayinat</a>. Following Jewish return from exile, Solomon's Temple was replaced with the <a href="/facts/Second_Temple/Y66V1qr1">Second Temple</a>.

Solomon's Temple open-in-new

Solomon's Temple